


Melted Stars, Melted Sea

by ladyofstardvst



Category: Aquaman (2018), Aquaman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Fluff without Plot, Minor Angst, actually you know what i dont know what this is oops, blurted marriage proposals are involved like accidentally, night drives and cute things, who doesnt like that right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 20:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18948439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofstardvst/pseuds/ladyofstardvst
Summary: a night in which you both know complete, stress free serenity under a full moon and the ocean as your sole witnesses. aka the nice time you both deserve.





	Melted Stars, Melted Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing something with absolutely No Bone Crippling Angst? yeah i dont know what im doing either, so like pls be kind. And I've also never written for our soft fish man before so pls be gentle im just testing the waters here. Anyway hope it's not a complete dumpster fire!!!!

He found you on the dock, eyes spellbound by the infinite celestial sky above you.

It was common, that he found you like this. Back pressed against sturdy wooden planks, hands tucked behind your head or mimicking the rise and fall of your abdomen. Air, cool from the ocean would caress your face, your hands, your skin - it kept you grounded _just enough_ , so you wouldn’t forget you were still on planet Earth. Your eyes would remain glued to the deep lavender, cobalt blue, and midnight black. They would search the crystalline sprinkles above for familiar shapes, and then shapes you wished to know. You hunted for far off moons or tails of the galaxy and hidden planets you longed to see with your own bright eyes. You imagined what, or _who_ , could be residing in the eerily empty spaces between the glitter in the sky.

Arthur Curry loved that about you.

It was ironic, he thought - his own head was usually down underwater, lost in the darkness below. Yours was tilted up and up and _up_ to see where no human had gone before.

In the middle of your impromptu star-gazing session, soft footfalls on the dock began to bring your mind back down to your own rock in the cosmos. A nudge to your calf brought wandering eyes back down to land.

“Want to go for a drive, Stephen Hawking?”

You smiled at the sky; a grin that could put ethereal moonlight to shame.

“ _Always_ ,” barely made it past your lips before you were hauled to your feet and into the arms of the Aquaman himself. He pulled you close for a moment, before he took your hand and guided you to the truck idling at the edge of the docks. You tilted your head back one last time; trusted Arthur to catch you if you were about to bite the dust.

You tripped over a rock.

He laughed. You shoved him.

 

||

 

_This is what peace feels like._

It was the lone thought that thrummed through your entire being.

Brisk night air stained with the brine of the sea ripped through the open windows - a welcome comfort, just like the hand the meta-human had rested on your thigh with his other on the wheel.

“This never gets old,” your voice was quiet, but your eyes were alert. Clear. Drinking in the New England coastline, the rise and fall of the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. The moonlight illuminated cresting waves and seafoam that kissed the shore. Cliffs from far up the road looked deadly and beautiful in the deep hours of the night, and you never tired of driving these winding paths. The hills in front of you, the depth-less, unforgiving sea to your right, and the man you loved keeping you close while he drove on your left.

“Nothing is, with you.”

You barely heard him over the howl of the wind in your ears, or the explosion of the waves rushing each other over and over and _over_. A small smile blossomed on your lips.

“We’re being so soft I want to punch us in the face.”

Arthur’s laughter roared louder than any crack of thunder you had ever heard.

The king of Atlantis was inclined to agree with you.

Your fingers mindlessly traced exposed tattoos of the arm in your lap the rest of the drive, more preoccupied with the _movement_ than the _silence_ that filled the air until you returned to the lighthouse. The quiet was nice. It was soothing. It was _rare_ , spending time with Arthur like this; even more so now that he had a whole other _world_ to look after. A whole other kingdom to live in and govern and protect.

You accepted his decision long ago, reassured him you would be fine, because you would, and you _were_. He had your unyielding support both while he was away, and while he was _with_ you.

It made you love him more, even, for refusing to pull the age old _cowardice_ bullshit: _“_ _I can’t give you the attention you deserve anymore, so I’m breaking up with you, sorry.”_

No - that was _far_ from Arthur Curry’s style.

There was no walking on razor sharp eggshells around the subject, no hiding behind false truths and white lies about your truest thoughts and feelings, no internalizing or projecting your worst fears and horrifying nightmares that suddenly became _real_ because he was _leaving_ and he was fulfilling his _destiny_ and you were staying _here_ , on the surface, _without_ him.

And _yet_ _-_ neither of you questioned this was how it had to be. How you _wanted_ it to be, even just a little. He wanted to be there for his people, and you wanted him to stop running from his responsibilities, to embrace who he truly was. So you wanted this, for him, even though you missed him more than the sun missed the moon and the constellations missed their previous lives on the Earth. You knew he felt the very same way.

The truck eventually crept to a stop. The full moon shone snow-white rays through the windshield, making your bodies glow in the radiant light. It was enough to convince Arthur that maybe angels _were_ real, and he had been with one all along.

It was enough to convince _you_ that instead of _Poseidon_ incarnate, Arthur could rival that of Apollon, God of Light.

“It’s almost time,” he said into the quiet, breaking the hushed spell you both had fallen under. His eyes were trained on the monumental expanse of the ocean now. Serene urgency laced with his voice, but he hadn’t moved to untangle himself from you, hadn’t moved except to press a kiss into your lips slow and grounding.

You moved instead, when you broke apart.

“Then why don’t we get out of this truck so you can kiss me goodbye properly?” you teased. The process of leaving had begun once more.

He stood by your side under the starlight, who broke the darkness with it’s poetry.

Arthur took your face in his hands and kissed you so _fiercely_ you felt like the world was about to burn into _nothing_. It was a kiss that could end wars and bring hurricanes crashing down to land. It was a kiss that stole your breath, stopped your heart and rose the dead from their graves, the kind of kiss that restarted the cycle of life after death. It was a kiss that spoke so many words, so many phrases and spoke of feelings that were deep enough no words in any language existed for them yet. It was a kiss that made the mere _mention_ of happiness seem like a figment of your imagination, because there was _no way_ happiness could compare to what you were feeling in that _one_ _moment_.

You felt it in your bones, felt it _melt_ your bones.

All with the sea as your witness.

You pulled away breathless, not remembering what oxygen felt like or how you were supposed to breathe. The only anchor to this world was the gentle spray of the ocean on your skin, the light embrace of a salt breeze that felt like it was breathing _for_ you, instead of _on_ you. The cool tendrils of darkness and contentment kissed your spine, and you shivered just for a second.

This was peace, you realized.

This was peace and it was always only temporary, but in those last moments before Arthur told you he loved you more than Atlantis and the Surface and more than the sea combined –

Before you watched the dark waters swallow him whole again, you acted on those feelings. You followed your gut and threw yourself into the icy waters before he ever had the chance.

(Metaphorically, of course.)

“ _Marry me_ ,” it flew past your lips so effortlessly, so _fast_ \- your hands were still lost in Arthur’s hair and neither of you had the chance to catch your breath.

A beat of silence.

And another.

It sunk in for both of you at the same time, what you just asked.

The shit-eating grin that moved mountains in your stomach graced his lips in a heartbeat.

“I thought you’d never ask.”


End file.
